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magis
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february 2017
Spotlight
S
ustainable planet, rejuve-
nating ecology and eco-friendly
solutions — were the central themes
of discussion among the eminent
speakers, enthusiastic participants and
the aspiring entrepreneurs of the 9
th
entrepreneurship conference at XLRI.
The three-day National Conference on Social Entre-
preneurship was inaugurated on 27 January by MV
Ashok, Chief General Manager, NABARD, and Prof.
Ashish K Pani, Dean (Academics), XLRI. Keeping
the theme of initiating environment-friendly actions in
mind speakers were presented with saplings and the
inauguration was done by watering the plants — and
not by lighting the lamp.
The conference is organised every year by the
members of SIGMA (Social Initiative Group for Man-
agerial Action) under the aegis of Fr Arrupe Centre
for Ecology and Sustainability (FACES). Introducing
the conference and the theme, Prof Madhukar Shukla,
Chairperson, FACES, and the conference co-ordinator,
highlighted the facts and figures reflecting environ-
mental degradation. He observed that India produces
1.3Ltonnes of solid waste (in urban areas), the surface
water is 80 percent contaminated, 60 percent of the
groundwater is polluted and the country has to deal
with the humongous task of recycling with only 18
percent of capacity. Hence, the Entrepreneurship for a
Sustainable Planet theme was chosen to create space
for discussion on such pressing issues. The schedule
of the conference is designed in a way to promote sus-
tainability mindset, initiate partnership and encourage
experience sharing between participants and speakers.
Ashok in his keynote address advised the aspiring
entrepreneurs to focus on marketing and selling in or-
der to survive the competition. “Social entrepreneurs
NCSE
Meet
Takes up
Sustainable
Solutions